Chinese encryption technology rejected

After an international standards organization rejected a Chinese encryption system, its promoters accused rivals of “dirty tricks,” the Associated Press reported.

After its rejection by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), China will continue to promote its WAPI standard and will use it domestically, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

China is promoting WAPI in an effort to reduce reliance on foreign technology and give its companies a competitive edge, the AP reported. ISO members rejected WAPI in favor of the U.S. standard known as 802.11i.

ChinaBWIPS, the official China Broadband Wireless IP standard group, issued a statement last week accusing backers of the American system of “a lot of dirty tricks including deception, misinformation, confusion and reckless charging to lobby against WAPI,” according to the Xinhua report The group did not elaborate on its charges.

China dropped an effort last year to make WAPI its mandatory national standard after the U.S. government complained that it would hamper access to the Chinese market for foreign companies, the AP said. Only eight of 25 ISO members voted in favor of China’s proposal.

The Chinese government claims that WAPI is more secure than 802.11i, developed by a group led by U.S.-based Intel.

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